


Just breathe

by nessnessquik



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (or you could kiss I'm not picky), F/M, Happy 1500 fic philinda fandom!, Hurt/Comfort, JUST HUG EACH OTHER DANG IT, Unless we get a scene like this I'm gonna accept this as canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 21:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7123567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessnessquik/pseuds/nessnessquik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We've reached 1500 fics in this Philinda tag! Amazing! I remember when we only had 200. I love being in this fandom. Hope you enjoy this little fic! This was for Philinda Appreciation Week - Day 1</p><p>Prompt: Missing scenes from Season 3 - Takes place right after the time jump.</p><p>I have a thing for Philinda comforting each other. Haha!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just breathe

Five months and twenty-six days.

It had been almost exactly six months since Daisy had left. Run away, really. With every step Phil took as he and Mack walked back into their base, he heard the echo of his defeat.

_Failure._

_Failure._

_Failure._

Another lost chance chance at saving the girl he viewed as a daughter. Another way he failed her.

He spoke to Mack about their next attempt on their way back to their bunks for the night. Another plan. Another strategy. _Another failure_. But he pushed that thought away. That wasn’t going to help him find Daisy, and right now, that was all that mattered.

“Get some sleep. We’ll get going again in the morning.” Phil stopped at his bunk, already opening his door.

Mack nodded once. “Yo-yo asked me to check in with her when we got back, but you bet I’ll hit the sack after that. It’s _your_ rest I’m worried about.”

Phil gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Can’t hardly keep my eyes open. I’m sure I’ll sleep like a baby.”

Mack looked like he wanted to argue, but he nodded again and turned away.

“You should at least see May.” Mack said over his shoulder. “Might help.”

Phil didn’t have a chance to answer before Mack disappeared, but he softened at the mention of his partner. He didn’t want to wake her this late. He was sure she wasn’t getting enough sleep as it was, worried as she was for Daisy and the rest of the organization. So he shut his door.

Phil glanced around his room, which had hardly been touched these past six months. He tossed his backpack on his chair and moved slowly toward the bed, sinking into it with a heavy sigh. He looked over at his nightstand and smiled the first genuine smile he had in weeks. Someone–Melinda, of course–had left a shot glass of scotch sitting there for him. Phil grabbed the drink and downed it before throwing on his pajamas and collapsing into bed.

His dreams started out happy–probably due to the mix of a familiar bed and scents and scotch. Whatever the reason, Phil was glad for those few moments of peace.

_He dreamed of Daisy. Hugging him tightly. Brown curls tickling his chin._

_She was smiling about some gift he had given her–a bouquet of daises. Appropriate,_ he thought.

_Melinda stood next to him, smiling despite her eye roll at his cliché present. Daisy hugged her too, and Phil watched as Melinda’s face softened from surprise to quiet joy._

_Melinda looked up at Phil, eyes shining, and he felt his heart ache with happiness._

_The team showed up next to him, Fitzsimmons, Mack, Elena, Lincoln._

_This was his family, all right here._

_Then, everything moved too fast._

_Hive appeared, with his grotesque hydra face in plain view, and Phil was assaulted with flashes of memories._

_His team in pain around him._

_Melinda in a hospital bed. Mack with his bandages. Fitzsimmons with cuts and bruises. Elena bleeding._

_Daisy destroying the base._

_Lincoln leaving in the quinjet._

__Daisy crying._  
_

_Daisy begging him to save Lincoln. To do_ something _._

_Him watching helplessly._

_Not being able to comfort her._

_Daisy disappearing._

_Trying to find her, failing again and again. Nothing was working._

_He lost her. And it was his fault._

_Empty._

_Alone._

_Helpless._

_A failure._

Phil gasped and shot up, throwing the suffocating blankets away and touching his feet to the floor in an attempt to ground himself. He tried to stop the tears that were building, but with every shuddering breath they burned his eyes even more. He pressed his palms to his eyelids before he heard the ‘click’ of his door closing.

 _Melinda_.

If there was anyone Phil would allow himself to be vulnerable with, it was Melinda. But even still, he hated that she had to see him in this state. Shaking, sweating, and gasping for air, horror and defeat written all over his face.

Phil looked up at her as she moved toward him. His eyes were still wet, but he could make out the concern and compassion on her face. 

She didn’t say a word, but her fingers were cool and reassuring against the stubble of his cheek as she stood in front of him. Before he realized what he was doing, Phil had his arms around her waist, pulling her body close to him. He rested his head on her stomach as he continued to shake.

Melinda kept one hand on his shoulder, hugging him back, the other brushed through his hair delicately, comforting him with her gentleness. “Come on, Phil. Breathe with me. You’re okay.” She spoke softly.

He felt her stomach expand with her breaths and struggled to match it.

_In. Out. In. Out._

Phil felt his heart rate begin to slow, his eyes–which had been squeezed shut–were relaxing, the only thing that remained tight was his grip on Melinda’s waist; his anchor. He could have fallen asleep right then and there, inhaling the comforting, familiar scent of Melinda, her hand in his hair, but Phil shook himself from his drowsiness.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, head still down.

Melinda’s hand fell from his hair to his neck. “You’re going to find her, Phil.”

“I keep–” Phil shook his head, rustling Melinda’s shirt. “I keep failing. She’s _right there_ and she just…slips right through my fingers.”

Melinda’s finger found his chin, finally having Phil look up at her, although his hands still scrunched the fabric at her waist. He saw the sadness in her eyes, but there was also that determined glint he loved so much. “We’ll find a way. We always do.” 

Her slight smile as she uttered the familiar words warmed Phil with hope, chasing away the lingering distress from his nightmare.

They shared a bed that night, side by side, keeping watch over each other, and in the midst of the chaos of the world outside, they breathed together.

**Author's Note:**

> I do love hearing from you, if you have a chance . Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
